Free Album Download: Mother Hips' Back To The Grotto

In 1992, well before the Mother Hips signed to Rick Rubin's American Records, they recorded "Back To The Grotto." Re-released in 1995 with minimal promotion, the album faded into the rearview as the band grew its audience with subsequent records.

Recorded while the the band was still attending Chico State, it's an ambitious album that sits comfortably outside the alternative-music revolution that was unfolding around it.

In hindsight, Back To The Grotto is a fitting prologue to a DIY career as the band honed its 'California Soul'. All the pieces of the Hips' sound are foreshadowed; beach-bonfire harmony and twin guitars laced with country, indie, jam, and psych rock.

Offered now as a free download, the Mother Hips camp says "we are trying to build a new generation of Mother Hips fans and want to make sure there are no barriers for people listening to their debut."